The Changing Arena of Latin Jazz

Herb Alpert - When many people think about Latin Jazz, a salsa dance party comes up, with hot dance rhythms charging behind jazz harmonies and improvised solos. This is actually one aspect with this style - musicians like Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Cal Tjader, and Ray Barretto have gotten people on the party area for many years with jazz and Cuban rhythms.

Dance rhythms certainly hold a spot in modern Latin Jazz, but a growing quantity of artists have abandoned the oasis for various cultural and artistic influences. Today, many Latin Jazz musicians integrate rhythmic traditions from your broader spectrum from the Caribbean and South America, often blending cultural elements with modern jazz influences.

Trumpet - Traditional Afro-Peruvian rhythms have played a large part within the expansion of Latin Jazz, bringing rhythmic styles like the festejo and landó into the style as well a far more guitar heavy approach. Guitarist Richie Zellon has combined these traditions with jazz harmonies extensively while trumpet player Gabriel Alegria has evolved a unique approach with his Afro-Peruvian Sextet.

While stateside Latin Jazz always carried a Puerto Rican influence, it has only been that artists have convey a distinct emphasis upon the thought of traditional rhythms like bomba and plena supporting jazz contexts. Trombonist Papo Vazquez provides his ferocious command of bebop over Puerto Rican rhythms while saxophonist Miguel Zenón has dived deep into plena and classic Puerto Rican songs being a foundation for jazz.

Argentina has always been known for it's passionate tango, and lots of musicians have discovered that music is a natural fit for jazz. Bassist Pablo Aslan has produced a definite language for improvising around tango structures while pianist Pablo Ziegler continues the task of influential composer Astor Piazzolla with a distinct jazz twist.

Listeners often look at the lush bossa novas of Antonio Carlos Jobim once they look at the blend of Brazilian rhythms and jazz, nevertheless the style has exploded into something much more dynamic. Pianist Jovino Santos Neto has generated upon his long tenure with composer Hermeto Pascoal and created a highly creative repertoire of original Brazilian jazz while drummer Duduka Da Fonseca has blended the freedom behind a fresh York jazz sensibility with dynamic samba rhythms.

Concert - The oasis is unquestionably still an integral part of Latin Jazz - just pay attention to the background music of Poncho Sanchez or Pete Escovedo to get a healthy dose of danceable jazz. The design has certainly expanded artistically, reflecting a more encompassing spectrum of Latin traditions and providing listeners an even more diverse experience.